Law and morality

Morality is the herd-instinct in the individual.

Friedrich Nietzsche 1844-1900

Let’s look more widely at law and compare it with concepts of morality and justice, and the ideas of rights and duties.

The moral values of communities explain how people should behave. Concepts of morality differ from culture to culture, although most will outlawextreme behaviour such as murder. Often morality is based on religious ideas: the Bible teachings provide a moral code for Christian communities and the teaching in the Koran for Muslims. The law of a country will usually reflect the moral values accepted by the majority of the country, but the law is unlikely to be exactly the same as the common religious moral code. One example is adultery: this is against the moral code for both Christians and Muslims but is not considered a crime in Christian countries: however, in some Muslim countries (though not all) it is against the criminal law.

The moral standards of a community are recognized as having a profound influence on the development of law, but in complex societies, morality and law are never likely to be co-extensive. Major breaches of a moral code (such as murder and robbery) will also be against the law, but in other matters there may not be consensus.

In England and Wales there has been a move away from religious belief and the way that the law has developed reflects this. Abortion was legalized in 1967, yet many people still believe it is morally wrong. A limited form of euthanasia has been accepted as legal with the ruling in Airedale NHS Trust v Bland (1993), where it was ruled that medical staff could withdraw life support systems from a patient who could breathe unaided, but who was in a persistent vegetative state. This ruling meant that they could withdraw the feeding tubes of the patient, despite the fact that this would inevitably cause him to die. Again, many groups believe that this is immoral as it denies the sanctity of human life.

There are also differences between law and morality in the way the two develop and the sanctions imposed. The following is a suggested list of such differences.

1. Morality cannot be deliberately changed; it evolves slowly and changes according to the will of the people. Law can be altered deliberately by legislation: this means that behaviour which was against the law can be ‘de-criminalized’ overnight. Equally, behaviour which was lawful can be declared unlawful.

2. Morality is voluntary with consequences, but generally carrying no official sanction (though some religions may ‘ excommunicate ’); morality relies for it effectiveness on the individual’s sense of shame or guilt. Law makes certain behaviour obligatory with legal sanctions to enforce it.

3. Breaches of morality are not usually subject to formal adjudication; breaches of law will be ruled on by a formal legal system.

Choose the right item:

1. According to the text the law is…..

a) the same as common religious moral code

b) not exactly the same as common religious moral code

c) concepts of morality and justice

d) the ideas of rights and duties

2. Euthanasia in England and Wales is ……

a) legal but immoral

b) illegal but moral

c) moral and legal

d) illegal and morally wrong